


guys and dolls

by throughthemist



Series: guys and dolls [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Captain America Steve Rogers, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Modern Bucky Barnes, Olympics, Shrunkyclunks, Skater Bucky Barnes, Team as Family, figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 05:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17843744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/throughthemist/pseuds/throughthemist
Summary: "he turned his attention to the ice, totally prepared to pretend to be interested for another few minutes before he could go and finally, finally, get that food Nat promised.But instead he kind of fell in love. Just a little bit."in which Bucky is an Olympic figure skater and Steve falls in love at first sight





	guys and dolls

**Author's Note:**

> Both of Bucky's skates are based off real-life programs (which I would highly recommend watching, even if you aren't usually a big figure skating fan!)
> 
> his short program is based off Jason Brown's 'love is a bitch': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og0w1wJOjTA  
> his free skate is based off Javier Fernandez's 'guys and dolls': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNlipLfe8s 
> 
> enjoy the fluff!

“How many more are there to go?” Steve tried not to sound too bored, but well. He stopped paying attention when his stomach started growling, and that was at least five skaters ago.

Natasha pinned him with her unrelenting stare, “you have the patience of a four year old. In a candy shop. Being told he has to wait to eat his candy until after dinner.”

“Well I think that’s taking it a bit too far.” Came Steve’s snotty reply, earning a graceless snort from Natasha.

“Two more skaters, then I promise I’ll take you to get some candy. Think you can manage that?”

Steve grumbled and turned back to the rink when the crowds around him seemed to explode into noise, people unfurling banners and shouting well wishes to the man gliding onto the ice. Natasha punched his arm and leant in to shout into his ear, “that’s Yuuri! The one I wanted to see. And see the man waiting by the boards?” She leant over Steve and pointed to a tall, slim man with silver hair, who stood out not just because of his designer suit, but because of the way he commanded the attention of just about everyone around him. Steve stared. He couldn’t help it, the guy’s a vision. Natasha laughed, “yeah, that’s Victor Nikiforov. I was assigned to his security once when I was still in Russia. The guy’s absolutely ridiculous but -” whatever else she had to say about Mr Nikiforov was cut off by the announcer’s booming voice.

“Next to skate, representing Japan, Yuuri Katsuki!”

And suddenly no one could care less about Victor, everyone’s attention was on the man, standing serenely at centre ice, sparkling in his jewelled black costume. Then the music started, and it was like a different man took his place.

It was as if the rise and fall of the castanets drew Yuuri in, transforming him into a being of utter confidence, taking everyone in the audience along for the ride too. Steve was aware of Natasha leaning closer and closer to the edge of her seat with every second, transfixed. Steve himself wasn’t aware of just how into the program he got until he let out an involuntary “whoop” when Yuuri landed his jumps. And when the program ended, the entire crowd were on their feet applauding. Yuuri eased out of his ending pose and punched the air, ecstatic at what he’d achieved.  
And when the scores came out and he was in first place, Steve blamed his huge smile and cheer on the fact he was finally understanding just what it was Nat loved so much about this sport.

“Wouldn’t wanna be the person to follow that,” Steve whistled.

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t count the American out just yet.”

“And who’s that?”

Natasha actually rolled her eyes at that. “Seriously, Steve? You really weren’t paying any attention during their warm up, were you?”

Steve fidgeted in his seat, body hunched over in an effort to fit into the cramped seat, “umm...no? I was doing recon.” He nodded, as if believing the lie himself, “checking everything looked normal. That is what we’re here for, you know.”

“Don’t try and use that haughty tone with me Steve, I know as well as you do that the ‘security’ work we’re ‘here for’ is just a ploy so Tony could get us all on a team bonding trip.” She looked at him, laughter playing in her eyes, “You just can’t appreciate art.”

Steve has nothing to say to defend himself to that. It’s true, and he knows it - the team came to the Winter Olympics as an excuse for a holiday, it was just under the guise of being an ‘undercover mission’. He smirks to himself at that, it had been his and Tony’s idea to get the government to sanction this little trip, and he still can’t believe how easy it was to pull off. They got VIP tickets to all of the events and everything. So instead of replying to Natasha, he turned his attention to the ice, totally prepared to pretend to be interested for another few minutes before he could go and finally, finally, get that food Nat promised.

But instead he kind of fell in love. Just a little bit.  
But honestly, how was he supposed to not fall in love? The guy was tall and lean, dressed in a sleek black costume that had just the barest hints of crystals glittering across his shoulders and torso. His long hair was pulled into an artfully messy bun at the back of his head, and he had an aura of calm confidence about him as he hugged his coach and made his way to centre ice.

“Next to skate, representing the USA, James Barnes!”

When the electric guitar started up and the man started moving, well that’s when Steve went from ‘kind of in love’ to ‘head over heels’. The music was sensual and James was fast across the ice, timing his movements perfectly to the beat, moving like the skates on his feet were just a natural extension of his body.  
The first jump came out of nowhere. And it was huge. The crowds roared and Natasha gripped his arm.  
“Was that a quad loop? Steve, I think that was a quad loop!”  
It all went over Steve’s head. Even with his perfect eyesight, he couldn’t hope to differentiate the jumps and after over an hour of watching this competition, the only one he could identify was the triple axel.  
He cared more about watching James dance, if he was honest. That didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the beauty of his triple axel, or cheer along with the crowd as he landed a ridiculously large quad toe, triple toe combination, but at the end of the program, when James collapsed to the ice in relief, he found himself thinking back on the steps, the beauty of the dance, and the way he span faster than Steve thought humanly possible.

He was snapped out of his daze by Natasha, “I think he might go into the lead.”  
Steve could only nod dumbly.

“That quad loop is new, he must have been saving it for the Olympics. Ballsy move, I respect that.” She carried on chatting to Steve, despite his obvious distraction. The scores were announced and, sure enough, James took a narrow lead over Yuuri. 

“He was really something, wasn’t he?”  
Natasha grinned, “told you I could get you to love figure skating by the end of the day! Come on, I want to go to the press conference to see Victor. I’m going to make him introduce me to Yuuri.”

Before Steve could protest, he was pulled to his feet and dragged out of the stands and into the press area where a table was being set up for the top three athletes.  
The room steadily filled with people, most of them journalists and reporters with camera crews, Steve was loath to notice. He was quite happy standing right at the back of the room with his shoulders hunched and a cap pulled low over his head, thank you very much. Natasha had other ideas. As soon as she spotted a distinctive head of silver hair walking into the room she was off like a shot, only pausing to glance behind her and give Steve an impatient look. Steve heaved a sigh and pushed off the wall to follow her, noticing as he did that James and the athlete sitting in third place had entered the room, too.  
And crap. James was even prettier up close.

He almost stumbled into Natasha as she abruptly stopped, a few steps away from where Victor stood, his arm around Yuuri.  
Natasha said something in Russian and Victor turned around, a charming smile already stuck on his face, before he registered who was stood before him and looked surprised for a second, before the smile grew and turned more genuine.

“Natalia!” Victor stepped forward to engulf her in a hug, “Natalia, you must meet Yuuri!”

Natasha smiled and extended a hand, “it’s a pleasure Mr Katsuki. You skate so beautifully, it’s an honour to meet you.” She released his hand and turned back to Victor, “and it’s Natasha now, Mr Nikiforov.”

Yuuri blushed a dark red and mumbled his thanks, before starting to move towards his place at the table. He swivelled around gracefully when he heard Victor’s cheeky, “well in that case it’s Mr Katsuki-Nikiforov now” and shot off a “not yet, Victor!” before laughing his way onto the stage.

Victor beamed, and turned back to the two of them, introducing himself to Steve with a charm and grace Steve wished he himself possessed. Instead, he was left awkwardly standing by the two as they struck up an easy conversation in Russian that Steve had no hope of following.  
So, naturally, he let his attention slide back to James.

***

The press conference seemed to drag on for hours. 

Honestly, he’d just made his Olympic debut and somehow catapulted into first place, and Bucky just wanted a second to himself to process that.  
Which is why he found himself running out of the conference room as soon as he could and smack into what could easily pass as a brick wall.

Except, it wasn’t a brick wall. Because that would be too easy. No, it was actually Captain America.

Great.

Now he’d probably broken his nose and ruined his chances of a podium finish at the same time as pissing off a national icon.

“Oh my god, are you okay? I’m so sorry!” Captain fucking America said, his voice earnest in it’s worry.

Bucky rubbed at his nose, shock subsiding and leaving only a small ache in its place. It wasn’t broken, at least. But that was the least of his issues. He glanced up and up, his five feet eight inches of height never feeling so small, and into blue eyes. And he forgot how to speak. So instead he made some kind of garbled sound and nodded his head emphatically. 

“Are you sure? You didn’t hurt your nose, did you?”

Bucky dropped his hand from his face and shook his head. Clearing his throat, he managed, “no, it’s fine.” A pause, “don’t worry about it.”

Relief flooded the other man’s face as he saw he’d done no real damage. “Oh thank god. You were my favourite skater tonight, I wouldn’t have wanted to jeopardize you or anything!”

At that, Bucky couldn’t help but snort a laugh. “But you would have been okay breaking the nose of someone you didn't like as much? Didn’t take you for a Gillooly type, Captain.”

He blushed, bright pink blooming across his cheeks. “No! No, I don’t. Wait...I don’t get it. Who’s that?”

Bucky laughed again, “don’t worry about it. I’m Bucky, by the way.” He plucked up the courage to offer his hand, buoyed by the Captain’s admission that Bucky had been his favourite skater of the evening.

“Steve.” He took his hand, “and forgive me, but I thought your name was James?”

“Ah, no one but the announcers call me that. Bucky’s a dumb nickname my little sister came up with and it just stuck I guess. Now it feels weird to be called James unless I’m in serious trouble.”

Steve laughed, and leant against the corridor wall. “That happen a lot then?”

“Me getting into serious trouble? More often than it should, let’s be honest.” He laughs, “it’s usually my coach tearing into me about something or other.”

“Well, they can’t be mad at you after tonight, can they? You were amazing.”

He couldn’t fight the smile creeping up on his face, “thanks. I think I’m more surprised than anyone to be in first. To be honest, I don’t really know how to deal with it.”

“Not that I know a thing about figure skating, but I sure ain’t surprised you’re in first.” Bucky watched in amazement as Steve ducked his head, not quite managing to hide the blush he was sporting. “You were captivating.”

Bucky wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Honestly, he was already overwhelmed from the emotions of the day, he really didn’t need to add a sincere and sweet national icon to the mix. So, he did what he does best and deflected the compliment with a stupid joke.  
“Sure wish you were on the panel of judges, Stevie. Might just have a chance to hang onto a medal.”

“I don’t think you need my judging to do that, Bucky.” Steve grinned, a large and surprisingly mischievous looking thing, “‘sides, only jump I can recognise is the axel, and my friend Nat says that’s not in any way an achievement I should be proud of.”

Bucky couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter at that. “Maybe I should teach you sometime.” And no, that had not been what he meant to say. Shit. He was flirting with Captain America. This is why he shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people. 

But, instead of the awkward brush-off he’d expected, he glanced up at Steve to see another smile on his face, smaller this time, but no less bright. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Before he could reply, a red-headed woman poked her head into the corridor and seemed to relax when she saw Steve. “Oh good, there you are.” It was at that point she ran her eyes over Bucky appraisingly, before gracefully walking forward to extend her hand. “James Barnes, it’s a pleasure. You skated brilliantly out there, congratulations.” He smiled and thanked her, an inkling of recognition tickled his brain but wouldn’t manifest itself into actually putting a name to her face. “Steve, we’re meeting the team in ten, so we should make a move. Oh, and we’re meeting Victor and Yuuri for dinner this evening.” Her tone of voice left no room for argument, “and you’re not getting out of socialising this time.”

Team?! Bucky wanted to kick himself. Of course he thought he recognised Natasha, she was on the news saving the world every other week! And crap, the Black Widow was standing in front of him, polite and friendly in an utterly intimidating kind of way, and she somehow knew Victor Nikiforov and Yuuri Katsuki? 

Steve held up his hands in surrender and laughed good-naturedly. “Wasn’t dreaming of it Nat, promise!” He turned back to Bucky, a shy look on his face, “I don’t suppose you’d fancy coming along? I promise the rest of my friends aren’t as scary as she is,” he said with a laugh in his voice.

Bucky smiled, outwardly confident, but questioning if this was real or if he was in a weird sort of dream on the inside, “if I say yes, do I get to meet the Falcon?”

Natasha grinned, “I like you. Yes, you’ll get to meet Sam. And dibs on telling Tony he wasn’t skater boy’s first choice,” she said to Steve, who groaned and laughed simultaneously, something Bucky didn’t know was possible. Maybe it was a supersoldier thing.

“Why would you deny me that pure joy, Natasha? You owe me, remember? I’ve let you take me to every competition you wanted this week!”

Natasha smirked, eyeing Steve and Bucky up at once, “I think that’s paid off just fine for you, Steve.”

Bucky didn’t know how to unpack that look, or Steve’s violent blush, but he was suddenly looking forward to this dinner more and more.

“I better go. Coach’ll be waiting to nag at me for something or other, you know how it is,” he managed to get out.

Steve nodded, the small smile back on his face, “I’ll see you tonight, Buck.” He reached out and clapped him on the shoulder, “congratulations again for today.”

Bucky smiled and nodded, managing to quell the loud “what is happening!” threatening to burst out of him until he was safely in the men’s changing room.

But honestly, what the hell was happening?! Not only did he just meet and flirt with Steve Rogers, but Natasha Romanoff had uttered the words “I like you” and on top of that he was supposed to go to dinner with the Avengers and two of the world’s most beautiful skaters? 

God help him.

***

Dinner was going well, Steve thought. He was surrounded by his family and new friends in Yuuri, Victor, and Bucky. Everyone was in great spirits after days of watching incredible sport, the restaurant was warm and the food was delicious. Plus it didn’t hurt that Bucky was sat opposite him, dressed up in a classic navy blue suit that made him look like he’d stepped right out of an old Hollywood flick, despite his long hair which was left loose with only two small braids stopping it falling into his face.  
Yuuri, Victor, and Bucky had fit right into their odd little group and for once, Steve’s teammates hadn’t gone out of their way to embarrass him beyond belief. Yet. 

“So Victor,” Tony said, tone deceptively innocent. “You ever do any modelling?”

“Oh yes, back in Russia I’m the face of quite a few sporting brands.” Victor replied matter-of-factly, no trace of ego in his voice. He tipped his head to the side, letting his silver bangs fall delicately into his eyes. “Why do you ask?”

“Well Stark Industries are always looking to expand our tech, right Pep?” Pepper glanced over from her conversation with Bruce, already suspicious of her fiance's intentions. She hummed in response, which seemed all the support Tony needed to carry on his pitch. “And how great would it be if we were to, I don’t know, create some top of the line skating stuff.” He waved his hands around blithely, even less knowledgeable about the sport than Steve himself. Not that that would stop him, when Tony puts his mind to something he’s an expert within a day. Pepper simply rolled her eyes indulgently and turned back to Bruce, secure in the knowledge that she could stop the craziest of Tony’s plans from being made.

“Skating...stuff?” Yuuri piped up from his seat next to Victor. “Do you know what you’re talking about at all?” Yuuri seemed shy, not speaking all that much, but when he did say something it was hilariously to the point. Seeming to realise what he’d just said, Yuuri tried to stammer out an apology, but it was drowned out by Victor’s delighted laughter.  
Tony, appropriately chastised, nodded in defeat, “nope, I don’t know a thing. But I’m willing to learn and I have a whole lot of free time now I’m not CEO. I need a new challenge. So, what would actually be a helpful thing for me to make?”

The conversation grew too technical for Steve to follow at that point, but it wasn’t a loss. Bucky, interest piqued by the skating talk, was debating the merits of blade tech and arguing with Tony like they were old friends. It was quite the sight to see. So Steve indulged himself and sat watching with a no doubt dopey smile on his face.  
That was, until he felt a sharp kick to his ankle under the table and looked up to see Sam watching him with curious eyes, his eyebrows raised.  
“You’re either really nailing an impression of Victor staring at Yuuri, or you want yourself a skater of your own.” His eyebrows just raised even higher at Steve’s lack of response. “I’m guessing it’s the latter of the two,” he snorted.

Steve groaned, pink cheeks blessedly masked in the low light of the restaurant. “That obvious?”

“Well, stealth never was your strong suit, buddy. What’s going on there?”

“Nothing.” That got the expected sarcastic ‘mmhmm’ in response. “Really. I bumped into him after he skated and got chatting, fell a little in love, invited him here. You know, the usual.”

That got a proper laugh in response. “Man, you’re hopeless, you know that right? Have you at least asked him out properly?”

“I’m not sure now would be the right time, Sam. He’s got more important things going on.”

“You don’t think you could be his good luck charm?” Sam grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, laughing at him.

“You’re the worst Wilson, the absolute worst,” he muttered, the sentiment lost in the way he smiled at his best friend, shaking his head at the laughter still etched onto his face. “Anyway, enough about me. What are your plans for tomorrow? I feel like I haven’t seen enough of you this week.”

“Aw, you missing me Rogers?”

“Damn right I am! You wanna come to the skating finals with me and Nat tomorrow evening?”

“Sure, if it’s in the evening, why not. Me, Rhodey, Pep, and Clint want to see the snowboarding finals tomorrow morning. We were at the semi’s this afternoon, and oh my god it’s amazing. Like, seriously? I kind of want to be them.”

Steve laughed, “next time we have a mission somewhere snowy we should make it happen. Hey, I ever tell you about the time me and the Howlies were in Switzerland and used the shield as a sled?”  
Sam laughed loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of their group, “you didn’t!” 

“We did!” Steve laughed right back, “don’t think I’ve ever been in so much trouble in my life, but oh my god was it worth it. I’m taking you next time we can.” 

“Can’t wait!” Sam laughed, “and how much trouble are we talking?”

“Phillips had an absolute field day making an example out of us. Even radioed in Howard so he could shout at me in front of everyone for using his precious shield as a toy. Pegs just about lost it at that, never seen her laugh so hard in all my life.” His smile turned softer, more wistful. He wasn’t aware the rest of the group were all focused on him now. “Anytime we could piss Howard off was a treat.”

“Rogers, I’ve never liked you more.” Steve turned to see Tony grinning, his glass raised in a toast, “to pissing off Howard Stark!”

Steve clinked his glass to Tony’s and the table cheered, though when Steve glanced around he caught the bemused confusion on Bucky’s face. Sam evidently did too, because he leant across Steve to whisper “America’s worst kept secret is that Howard Stark was a complete and utter dick,” to Bucky, who crinkled his nose up in response.  
“Can’t say I’m that surprised. You know, I was always confused as to why a ‘genius inventor’ gave Steve a shield painted with a literal target on it, and from what I saw didn’t give the rest of his squad any special equipment?”

Sam laughed triumphantly and punched Steve on the shoulder, “thank you! That’s exactly what I say! The shield is a disgrace, it’s barely big enough to cover his torso!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up bird boy.” Steve shot back, no heat in his words. He was just a little distracted with Bucky’s red cheeks and awed eyes as he continued to chat with Sam about how stupid his uniform was.

Dinner went on that way, with lively conversations and laughter surrounding their table, until the plates started to be cleared away and reality snapped back in place. Bucky checked his phone and frowned, looking up and catching Steve’s eye, “I better get going. Can’t be up too late the night before a skate.” He sounded hesitant, like he didn’t want to leave. “Wish this night could just go on forever, then I wouldn’t have to face the ice tomorrow at all.” He looked back up at Steve, eyes glinting in the candlelight, nerves playing out across his features.

“Hey, I already told you you’ll be great, didn’t I?”

“Forgive me if the assurances of a newbie skating fan don’t completely erase my nerves,” he teased back gently.

Steve gasped dramatically, “even a newbie fan who can tell an axel jump from the...other ones?” He cringed at his less than smooth turn of phrase. But it was worth it for the laugh it drew from Bucky.  
“You’re an idiot.”

“It’s been said.”

Bucky snorted, “an idiot I’ll see tomorrow?” He wouldn’t look Steve in the eye as he said it, instead focusing on pulling on his jacket.

Steve smiled, “you bet. And hey, good luck. And for what it counts, I really do believe you’ll be amazing. I’ll see you after the competition?”  
Before Steve could really register what was happening, Bucky leant into his space and pressed a barely-there kiss to his cheek, “see you then.” He was up and out the door before Steve could do much more than stare dopily after him.

The table started to clear steadily after that, Yuuri having to pull a more-than-tipsy Victor up and out the restaurant before he challenged Natasha to another round of shots. Victor left with a parting, “you’re all invited to my wedding after Yuuri wins the gold tomorrow!”  
The group could barely hear the “Victor!!” Yuuri tutted at his fiance as they walked out into the cold night air.

As soon as they left, every eye turned to Steve.  
“So, Steve…” Natasha smirked.

***

At least he wasn’t the last to skate this time.  
That was the thought Bucky was hanging onto as he waited at the side of the rink for the skater before him to finish, body calm and ready despite the nervous thoughts racing through his mind. All he had to do was trust the process he and his coach had put into motion four years previously. It had worked thus far and it would work again. All he had to do was trust.  
Loud applause rang in his ears and he snapped his head up to see the Canadian JJ take his bows, smiling wide amongst the bouquets of flowers reigning down around him. Honestly, Bucky hadn’t watched a single second of his skate, too in his own head, but he looked happy and the audience was enthusiastic in their applause. It filled Bucky with a thrill of anticipation.  
He skated out onto the ice. Now it was his turn to entertain them.

He took his starting pose and before he had time to overthink it, the music started and he was swept into the choreography he knew deep in his bones.  
The jazz music was swinging, the complicated steps were coming to Bucky like he’d been born to them, and all he had time for was a deep breath before setting up his first jump and launching himself into the air. And he didn’t need the crowd’s roar of approval to know it looked spectacular. Although it didn’t exactly hurt.  
He let the crowd buoy him through the next jump passes, his favourite quad salchow, triple toe combination came easy, and the triple axel, double toe was a breeze.  
Now came the fun part - the step sequence. This was the bit Bucky lived for. He knew he had everyone’s eyes on him, and he knew he could bring them into his world, into the song just for a few minutes. So he gave it his all, twisting and turning along to Sinatra’s smooth voice, charming anyone who laid eyes on him with the flick of his wrist and his quick steps across the ice.  
Bucky couldn’t hold back the smile on his face, he loved competing and this was why. There were no other thoughts in his head as he set up his next quad jump, no thoughts except the cheer of the crowd when he landed it, then the next jump, and the next one. He was having the skate of his life on Olympic ice and he felt no pressure anymore. No federation breathing down his neck to get them a medal, no anonymous hate on social media, none of his own stupid thoughts to bring him down.  
The crowd were on their feet before he’d even finished. And they stayed on their feet the whole way through his bows, until his scores were announced and he’d stayed in first place with a healthy margin between him and JJ.

His coach was overjoyed, clapping him on the back and smiling wider than Bucky had ever seen her smile before. He couldn’t help but return it; after all, all their hard work was paying off at the perfect time.

“Bucky!” He heard the shout a millisecond before the large plush toy bounced off the back of his head, “congratulations!” He turned around to see not only Steve, but Natasha, Sam, Clint, Pepper, Tony, Rhodey, and Bruce all leaning over the barrier to shout down their congratulations. He shouted back his thanks, and out of the corner of his eye saw his coach bend down to pick up the stuffed bear toy that was outfitted in his free skate costume of blue trousers and a light blue shirt with suspenders, complete with mini stuffed ice skates on it’s round feet. He laughed somewhat hysterically and hugged the bear to his chest, “where did you even find this?!”

Tony lit up, “I made it! Obviously. I’m thinking of calling it Bucky Bear, you like it?”

“It’s amazing, thanks Tony.” 

Coach got to her feet and tugged at Bucky’s sleeve, “We better get going, Yuuri’s about to start.”  
She looked remarkably unfazed by the band of heroes still trying to get her skater’s attention.  
Bucky nodded, but there was just one more thing he had to do. Fuelled by adrenaline, (at least that’s what he’d blame it on if this backfired) he scooped up one of the bouquets given to him and threw a flower to each of his new friends, leaving Steve till last. He picked up a flower crown thrown to him on the ice and stretched up as far as he could reach to place it neatly on top of Steve’s golden hair, pausing to take in the wide eyes and flushed cheeks he got in return.  
“Buck?” He said, leaning down enough that Bucky could press another kiss to his cheek, this one arguably landed more on the corner of his mouth than his cheek, but ah well.  
“I’ll see you later?” Bucky got a mute nod and shy but bright grin in response, and he turned to follow his coach before he did anything else stupid, like kiss that stupidly cute grin right off his face on international TV.

“Yeah, see you later Bucky!”  
“What about us!”  
“Where’s my kiss?!”  
“Blatant favouritism, I’m outraged.”

Bucky laughed out loud at the chorus of protests and left, following his coach to the seats reserved for Team USA. He knew he was supposed to be backstage, cooling off and doing press, but he hadn’t seen Yuuri skate ‘Yuuri on Ice’ yet and he’d be damned if he missed it now.

He was right in staying, it was an insane performance. Everyone he could see had teary eyes, and the cheering continued long after Yuuri had gracefully waltzed straight from the ice into Victor’s waiting arms, not letting go of his fiance until they were literally herded into the Kiss and Cry by the event officials.  
The scores came out and Bucky wasn’t even a little mad that he’d been beaten for gold, not after a performance like that. Yuuri had broken his own world record on the way to first place, and was in tears himself, looking for all the world like a man who’s wildest dreams had just come true. The same could be said for Victor, who was crying and yet still managed to look like an angel, who was loudly professing to anyone who could hear, “we’re going to get married, we’re going to get married!” Yuuri wasn’t even stopping him this time, instead grabbing his hands and saying, “the cherry blossoms will be out in April, let’s get married then.”

The next hour went by in a blur of press; Bucky barely had time to respond to his family’s crazed congratulations (and a message Bucky was not thinking about from Becca which just read ‘will your wedding be ice themed? What a fun common interest you both have! Also congrats.’) And before long, Bucky was being ushered out onto the ice again for the medal ceremony. 

The feeling of standing on an Olympic podium, medal around his neck and his country’s flag hanging behind him, was something he couldn’t hope to describe. He’d dreamed of this since he first put on a pair of tiny ice skates, and even when everyone but his family doubted him, through injuries he thought he couldn’t get over, he’d made it. He was there, at the Olympics, surrounded by the best skaters on the planet, and he’d got himself a medal.  
When he was up there, flashing lights blinding his eyes and the roar of the crowd and the Japanese national anthem deafening him, he could have sworn he heard cheering that was louder than the rest, and a flash of bright red hair, bright white teeth, the soft glow of an arc reactor, and blue, blue eyes looking right at him.  
Somehow, in the midst of all the nerves and euphoria that was being an athlete at the Olympic games, he’d managed to meet new friends, and a potential new something, in the shape of the Earth’s mightiest heroes. He almost couldn’t believe it. 

But then again, he was standing on an Olympic podium, medal around his neck and his country’s flag hanging behind him, so really, why shouldn’t he believe it?


End file.
